


Waltz into the Future

by traptrixnepenthes



Category: Future Card Buddyfight
Genre: F/F, would die and also kill for gaveden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 02:32:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18682336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traptrixnepenthes/pseuds/traptrixnepenthes
Summary: another fic written for @kurouzugaitou on twitter! this time around the request was for gavriel and eden reflecting on the past in a party-sorta scenario, and once again i did something...just slightly to the left of that.it does, however, involve them dancing together, so it's fine, right





	Waltz into the Future

“Mistress Eden, you’ve received an invitation.”

Eden glanced up at her for just a moment, but looked back to the paperwork on the desk in front of her again, and Gavriel watched as her red eyes scanned the lines of text. Here in the privacy of her office, where only Gavriel could see, was where Eden would deign to remove the mask she so habitually wore around others, the one she’d convinced everyone else to wear as well. It was a mark of her conviction for order, and also, Gavriel liked to think, a reflection of the bond the two of them shared.

Even if it was a symbol like that, Gavriel much preferred seeing her face clearly.

“Invitation to what?” It had taken a bit of a pause, given how preoccupied Eden was, but Gavriel had all the time in the multiverse.

“We are being invited as representatives of our school to a party being held by...the Gaen Financial Group, as it appears how you’ve organized the student council here has caught the CEO’s eye.” Gavriel knew of the CEO in question, of course--someone with such close ties to one of the many deities of the worlds couldn’t escape her notice, and being so close to that deity in particular meant she’d kept an eye on him even after Azi Dahaka had fallen back into his long slumber. “It will be held in three weeks at the Cho-Tokyo Gaen Tower, with…” Gavriel focused on the fine print. “...all expenses paid in advance, as a token of goodwill.”

Eden paused in her work, this time setting her pen aside entirely as she contemplated the offer. “I suppose there’s no reason not to accept if they’re going to be so generous. Expanding our influence to such high places would do nothing but benefit all of us, I believe…”

Those red eyes that had so caught Gavriel’s attention were now looking somewhere far beyond her, and she didn’t really know what to do to bring them back to her. It was a good thing, surely, that Eden had so dedicated herself to the principles that Gavriel had offered her when she was struggling, but Gavriel had wanted to offer those kind words to see some poor lost soul smile again and now Eden didn’t smile at all.

So Gavriel smiled instead. “It’s going to be a party. It’s been a while since we were invited to one of those, hasn’t it?”

“It has.” Eden didn’t pick up her pen again. “And this is certainly the most important one we’ve ever been invited to.”

“Do you remember the first one we went to together? It was just one of the yearly ones held at this school, but you’d just taken your position as student council president and you were so nervous about it.”

Eden frowned, but it was less an irritated expression and more a faintly embarrassed one. “I just wanted to be sure it had been organized properly.”

“The dress you wore was lovely.”

The earthly forms of monsters from other worlds were malleable according to said monster's will, and for that dance Gavriel had changed her form to be less compact and more like a normal human, although of course her wings and tail had remained. To match Eden's golden gown, she'd changed to one that was a lovely silver mirror image, and they'd made a powerful-looking pair as they danced together. Eden clearly knew how to dance well, but she'd been so nervous that Gavriel had taken the position of lead instead, carefully guiding her along so that no one else would see it.

Eden hadn't smiled during that party, but she had smiled on the way back to her room as she thanked Gavriel for helping her, only to quickly suppress it before anyone else saw. Gavriel had already grown to accept this, and she'd decided then that she would simply have to smile in Eden's stead.

“Once again I thank you for helping me with that occasion, and with all the ones following it as well.” It had been three years since their bond had first formed, and Eden was no longer as cutely clumsy. “I would like for you to accompany me to this party as well. As my partner.”

But even now, Eden still tripped over her words when the topic didn't have to do with her studies or her iron grip over the school. Her confidence wasn't quite as unshakeable as she'd managed to convince the rest of the student population it was, and in many ways, she was still just hiding behind the principals Gavriel had given her, not living them.

“Of course I will. I promised to always be by your side.”

Eden's dearest friend had turned on her and left, and so the words Gavriel said were heavy on her lips. But she meant them completely and sincerely. She had all the time in the world to sit and wait at Eden's side, and hopefully watch her grow into someone who could truly smile again. As someone who lived to spread the words of the many gods in the many worlds, it wasn’t exactly adhering to her mission to put everything aside just to watch over one human, but she was sure at least some of them would approve. The great lords Avalon, Charuthea, and Luminalion, who presided over the gates to paradise; Damian, who had embraced his role in making sure those who were unworthy weren’t put into the prison Gagalgarios ruled over; the great deity of the sun, Balle Soleil, who now slept but surely he too would support wanting to bring more light into the world, wouldn’t he?

“Thank you,” Eden said in return, and although there was no smile on her lips, it was still in her words.

Light and radiance--that was would be brought back to Eden’s life one day. Even now, the light that streamed through the office windows reflected off her golden hair like a halo, and perhaps one day she would be an angel as part of the Empyreal Corps alongside Gavriel as her right hand, but not yet. Not...now.

“Why don’t you take a break from your work for a while, Eden?” Formality discarded, Gavriel took a seat on the edge of the desk, and watched as Eden proceeded to...not pick up her work again. “Even a great hero of justice and morals needs to rest sometimes.”

Eden just propped her elbows up on the desk and put her face in her hands. “Do you ever need to rest, Gavriel?”

“I do.”

“...Is staying with me, as opposed to continuing your work between the worlds, your idea of a rest?”

“No, it isn’t. But I wouldn’t exactly call it work, either.” Gavriel kicked her legs loosely, wondering if her next question would be too forward of her. “So why don’t you take a break with me?”

“I think that’s what we’ve been doing here, talking to each other.” Eden sighed, and closed her eyes. “I’m fine. I don’t need to rest.”

Stubborn as always, even as she sounded exhausted--a weak side that she only showed to Gavriel. Perhaps, the angel mused, she’d done a terrible thing in trying to help Eden. But maybe she could help fix that mistake as well. “That isn’t a rest for me, though. Talking to you is what I do most every day.”

“Mm…” Eden leaned back and stretched. “So you don’t want to talk to me, is that it?”

“Again, no. I’d rather do something else with you for a while.” Gavriel tilted her head towards Eden, and extended a hand out to her. She was the only one smiling, and that was okay this time. “We have a party coming up. May I have this dance, Eden?”

In that moment, Eden’s mask broke and she startled a bit, her red eyes widening in surprise--and then her face softened into something that was almost a smile. No, it _was_ a smile; as soft and gentle as Gavriel knew Eden could be, and so she smiled back just as softly. Eden reached out to her outstretched hand and placed her hand on Gavriel’s. “You may.”

They stood up together--or rather, Gavriel fluttered her wings and floated up--and Eden led her in front of her desk. Gavriel let her form change again, just like she did any other time they danced together, becoming a perfect mirror of Eden’s height and uniform. It was easy to believe herself into such a form, since there was nothing that she wanted more right now than for the two of them to take a moment to forget about things like law and justice and truth--truly just for a moment--and for Eden to have a reason to smile.

Unlike the dance Gavriel had been reminiscing about, Eden took the lead this time with her hand moving quite naturally to the angel’s waist, their other hands linking easily. There in Eden’s spacious office, which had once belonged to the school’s headmaster, they danced together--their movements were simple, easy, and fluid, backed only by the sound of their footsteps muffled by the carpet and Eden’s soft humming to mark their time. Each step was timed by a tap of Eden’s finger against Gavriel’s hand, and they were perfectly in sync, just as they always were.

It was a simple dance, a basic three-step waltz, but it was simple things that the angel treasured--there was a simplicity in light, in laughter, in the smile on Eden’s lips. And there was nothing in the world that she could’ve been happier with.

Their time together had not been long--or maybe it had been, in human terms--but still, Gavriel marveled at how well the two of them fit together. Maybe not perfectly, and maybe not exactly how she’d wanted to, but she couldn’t imagine herself anywhere else but right here at Eden’s side anymore. She wanted to stay here with her, guiding her and learning from her, for as long as she possibly could--forever, even if that was such a nebulous concept for angels that it was something she’d never pondered before. She could spend Eden’s life with her, protecting her from anything that might hurt her, and when her time finally came, perhaps she would ask if Eden would like to join her as an angel and member of the Empyreal Corps. If two angels together didn’t have a shot at being together forever, then who did?

It was in the middle of a step but Gavriel moved her hands and hugged Eden tightly. This was a human gesture, just one of the many things that she’d learned from her new partner, and one that felt extraordinarily precious. “I _promise,_ ” she said, a passion to her words that she’d never felt before, “I won’t ever leave you, Eden.”

Eden had frozen up for just a moment at the sudden gesture, but as always she softened and returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around Gavriel. “I know.”

At that moment the door creaked open, and both of them jerked away from each other, as if having been caught doing something wrong. It was one of the other student council members, a girl a bit older than Eden who she’d stolen the position of president from. She had some more papers in her hand, but they had apparently been forgotten in light of what she’d just witnessed.

“Um…” The girl looked awkwardly between Gavriel and Eden.

“Yes?” Eden’s voice had returned to its usual hard tone.

“...Am I interrupting something?”

“No,” Eden said flatly, and in one smooth movement snatched up her mask and replaced it on her face. “We were simply having a conversation about future events. What did you want?”

“Ah, well, I have the budget proposals for clubs this year, and--”

Gavriel simply stepped to the side, letting Eden return to her work. She didn’t mind waiting for Eden to be done with her duties. For her, Gavriel would wait forever.


End file.
